


Get a Little Closer

by GutterBall



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Cussing, M/M, Smut, cuddling for warmth gone awry, mention of other characters, they are so not, they think they're straight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 04:04:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5651815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GutterBall/pseuds/GutterBall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I blame <a href="http://istandwithsgtbarnes.tumblr.com/">istandwithsgtbarnes</a> for this one. It was just a silly <a href="http://istandwithsgtbarnes.tumblr.com/post/136707903730/opalclit-things-about-cuddling-that-fanfictions">"look at all these things OTPs usually don't do while cuddling in a fic" post</a>, but noooo. She just haaaaad to tag it with "I need a fic with all of these together". DAMMIT.</p><p>So that's what this is. All of them together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Get a Little Closer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fadedink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedink/gifts).



"Why are we even here?"

Raleigh sighed heavily. How to explain to Chuck Hansen, who had deliberately severed all ties to anything sentimental except Herc and Max, that he just... needed to walk around? To remember? To see in his mind's eye a younger Raleigh and a living Yancy strutting down the Ice Box's halls, so full of piss and vinegar and life and _pride_ that they'd finally found what they were meant to do?

"Pretty sure all the 'domes have the same layout, Ray. I'm just sayin'. No reason to come all this way."

"You're just mad because it's cold, you Australian heathen."

Chuck grunted. "You're just mad because this place is fucking empty and feels like a goddamn tomb."

He couldn't help it. He cringed. Chuck, for all his flaws, saw it and immediately backtracked.

"Oi, sorry, Ray. Just... my fingers are falling off, yeah? Can't we go to the hotel and come back tomorrow, when the heaters have finally thawed the place a bit?"

It was a fair point. Just because Raleigh had special permission to enter the Alaskan Shatterdome and actually turn on the power to have a look around -- it paid to personally know the current marshal and to have copiloted with the current deputy marshal -- didn't mean the heating system could warm the whole place in the half hour he and Chuck had been looking around.

So, he sighed again, well aware of the steamy plume his breath made in the chill. "No, you're right. We'll... we'll go."

And Chuck -- likely because no one had exactly twisted his arm to get him to come along and Raleigh wasn't even sure why the guy was here -- gently nudged him with his elbow, then tilted his head toward the side door where they'd parked the truck. Giving in, Raleigh led the way.

Chuck's first look at the literal chains on the vehicle's tires -- and the literal sandbags in the bed to weigh it down for better traction -- had been priceless, and Raleigh watched for it again as they trudged through the shin-deep snow outside. As far as Chuck could remember, he'd never actually seen snow, so he'd thought Raleigh's comment about needing chains for the tires was a dumb Alaska joke.

It wasn't. Chuck had been... nonplussed, to say the least.

And Raleigh wasn't disappointed. As soon as they got close enough to see down into the snow ruts they'd left pulling up to the 'dome, Chuck shook his head.

"I can't believe you actually lived someplace where you have to put actual chains on your tires, just to get around."

He rolled his eyes, though he was more amused than annoyed. "I can't believe you lived someplace where everything, up to and including the trees, tries to kill you."

Sniffling as he climbed into the truck, Chuck swiped at his nose. "My homeland isn't for the weak."

Smirking and completely sniffle-free, Raleigh keyed the ignition. "Neither is mine, Sniffles."

"Oi, what'd I say about that, princess?"

Driving a civilian vehicle after piloting a jaeger was a trip, but Raleigh remembered well enough that he could snark and drive at the same time. "If I remember right -- and I do -- you said, 'Oi, Raaahleigh, my best mate, you caahn't go to Alaska alone or you'll get feckin' depressed and off yourself, and if OYYY caahn't kill you, _no one_ caahn.'"

"Worst Australian accent ever."

"I learned it by watching you."

"Oh, my God, shut up and drive!"

Despite the kid's rising crankiness, Raleigh wasn't concerned. Chuck really had turned out to be a good friend these past months. It wasn't like closing the Breach had made all of Raleigh's past vanish like a fart in a stiff breeze. He still had nightmares, still had insomnia, still felt like he'd failed his brother, failed in his duty, failed the Kaidanovskys and the Weis--

But Chuck had been there for him when no one else could be. Herc and Mako had the world on their shoulders now, trying to secure private funders for a new PPDC so the UN couldn't dig their claws back in. Neither of them had noticed how badly Raleigh was spinning out until Chuck stepped in and put his metal-shinned, booted foot down.

So when Raleigh said he needed to face his demons in the Ice Box, Chuck had packed a bag and met him at the heliport without needing or asking for permission. The kid just expected to go along.

And Raleigh didn't protest. Even now, he was glad to not be alone.

"Oi, I'm gonna kill her."

He laughed at Chuck's murderous pout, even as he agreed that the hotel... was a shithole. Mako had made all their travel arrangements, and she had apparently been fooled by the name -- Royal Garden Inn -- and, likely, seduced by what had better be rock-bottom prices.

On the whole, he'd have preferred a Motel 6.

But a room was a room, and it had to be warmer than the Ice Box. So, they piled out of the truck, duffel bags in hand, and trudged through the snow to the main window.

The lady -- so swaddled in sweaters and scarves that Raleigh wasn't entirely sure she actually _was_ a lady, make-up notwithstanding -- didn't even look up from her phone. "Do you have a reservation?"

"We do." He shot Chuck a conspiratorial smirk. "Bruce Kent and Clark Wayne."

Chuck rolled his eyes but didn't protest. They'd both agreed that low-key was the only way to do this without it becoming a media hooplah neither of them wanted. The Becket name was still very well known in Alaska -- both in a good way and a bad way -- and neither of them had any intention of ending up on the wrong side of a camera for a single overnight trip to settle some old ghosts.

"Right." Still not looking up, she reached back, snagged a keycard seemingly at random, and dropped it in the little coin depression under the window glass. "You'll be staying in 110. Around the back, corner suite. Enjoy your stay."

He blinked. "Uh... we were supposed to have two rooms?"

Finally, the lady looked up. "You didn't make your own reservation, did you." It wasn't a question. "The lady said one room, so I reserved one room."

Chuck grunted, stepping closer. "Oi, what's the drama? Just book us another room, yeah?"

"Can't." Aaaand back to her phone.

They both waited, but she seemed disinclined to elucidate. Frowning, Raleigh glanced around the parking lot. It was empty.

"I don't wanna be a pain, but... it's not like you have a lot of business right now. Why can't you book us another room?"

"Got a church bus coming in from Anchorage tomorrow. Booked all the remaining bottom floor rooms besides yours and the owner's."

Chuck stiffened, but Raleigh hurried to intervene. "That's okay. We'll take two rooms on the second floor. We don't mind."

She scoffed, not looking up from her phone. "Can't book anything on the second floor until summer. No power, no water, no nothin'. Couldn't afford to stay open if we did."

"Oi, listen--"

"It's fine." He didn't exactly throw an arm across Chuck's chest to keep the kid from reaching up under the window through the coin drop and strangling the woman... but he did throw an arm across Chuck's chest. "We're fine. Thanks."

He picked up the keycard and turned away before Chuck could protest. Thankfully, he hadn't even reached the truck before the kid came trotting carefully along behind him, slipping a bit in the snow and cursing.

"I'm gonna _kill_ her."

Shaking his head, he put the truck in reverse and carefully backed along his own snow ruts before turning to make his slow way around the building. "It's not Mako's fault. She probably booked us a double when they said they only had one room left." He forced a smirk, even though he had no idea if he and Chuck could continue being chummy if forced into each other's company for hours at a time. "We're big boys, Chuck. We can make do with disappointment."

"I hate you."

"You're gonna love me when you realize there's no way any delivery place is running tonight and I thought to bring snacks."

"...I hate you marginally less."

He grinned, not having to force the expression. Chuck could definitely be amusing in his crankiness. It was almost endearing, in its way.

So, he held onto his happy thoughts all the way to the door, when they dropped completely.

"A double, huh?"

It wasn't a double. That was one full-sized bed in a room barely bigger than their quarters at the 'dome. And while it was probably too cold in here for bedbugs to survive, the carpet looked skeevy as hell, so the idea of one of them sleeping on the floor was discarded before either of them could even mention it.

Chuck closed the door behind them, and they both just stood there for a long moment, looking around. It was a dump. Plain and simple.

"Well, fuck."

Raleigh didn't argue. He didn't even _try_ to argue. That was pretty much how he felt, too.

Then, Chuck elbowed him. "We're big boys, yeah? We can make do with disappointment?"

Sighing, he shook his head. "Shut up and turn on the heater."

\--

The heater didn't work.

Well, it worked, but not well, and it was loud and annoying, to boot. Chuck found it grimly hilarious for the first ten minutes or so, but when the ambient temperature in the room didn't rise above fifty-seven, no matter how high they cranked the damn thing, he lost his jolly harbinger outlook and quick.

There was no couch, so there was very little choice but to share the bed. On one hand, shared body heat. On the other hand, it was a relatively tiny bed, they were both straight, and they were only starting to be friends. It would be fucking weird. Raleigh did not want to envision the many disasters that could befall them.

Also, the shower worked, but the hot water lasted about a minute and a half before turning into sleet needles, and with the outer room being so damn cold, it only took one look at Raleigh's shivering to convince Chuck that he would not be showering tonight. Things just kept getting better.

"Right, then." To his credit, Chuck hadn't actually blown his stack yet. He'd been simmering, but he hadn't yet boiled. "Ground rules. Number one, everyone keeps their hands to themselves."

Shaking his head and sadly aware that he'd probably be shaking his head for at least the next twenty-four hours, Raleigh sighed. "I'll be sure to remember that when I'm _asleep_."

That smirk should have long since gotten old, but somehow, it was still more amusing than annoying. "I know I'm irresistible, Ray, but please try to control yourself."

He snorted. "Fuck you, Chuck."

"Not enough lube in the world, mate."

Blushing despite how cold he was with his hair dripping icicles down the back of his t-shirt, Raleigh rolled his eyes. "Just get in bed, asshole."

"This how you sweettalk all your girls, Becket?" Despite the snark, the kid threw back the covers and, after eyeing the revealed sheets for movement, stuck one sock-footed, sweatpants-clad leg in between. "I thought I was special."

Grumbling -- but only in spirit -- he climbed in, as well, keeping well on his own side of the little bed. Why they hell were they both so damn broad-shouldered?

"You are special, Chuck. You're the only man besides Yancy that I've slept with."

Chuck paused his pillow-fluffing, shooting Raleigh a look both amused and appalled. "That's fucked up, mate."

He smirked, pulling the duvet up to his chin and wishing they had two or three more. "You started it."

"I retract my previous statement."

They lay on their backs, as far apart as possible and yet still brushing elbows if they moved, and... it was still fucking cold. Maybe it was just Raleigh. He hadn't expected the hot water to go out so fast, and the lone, scratchy towel hadn't done much to dry his hair. And there had only been one thermal blanket folded up in the pokey, dark little closet.

"Ray?"

"Yeah?"

"It's fucking cold in Alaska. I want it on record that I'm severely disappointed to find the stereotype is true."

Sighing, he tried to cuddle into the inadequate blankets more. "Duly noted."

Another few moments passed. If possible, the room cooled even further until he actively shivered. Worse, his teeth started to chatter. He tried to stop them, but that just made it worse.

"Jesus, Ray. Just... fuck."

To his shock, Chuck rolled toward him, reached out, grabbed him by both shoulders and hauled him up against that big body. Which apparently put out as much heat as an actual, functioning heater.

Which would be lovely if their awkwardness didn't end with Chuck's knee in Raleigh's balls.

"Ow, fuck!"

"Oi, sorry, mate. Just... fucking quit moving!"

"Right up in my balls, man. It's totally fine. I didn't need 'em anyway."

"I said I was sorry! Here, just... oi, fuck, roll to the other side and I'll spoon-- hey! Watch where you're puttin' your hands! Your fingers are fucking ice cubes and those are sensitive!"

"If your goddamn chest wasn't as broad as a barn, I wouldn't be feeling you up right now!"

"Jesus, Ray, you're taking up the whole goddamn bed-- hey! My ass is freezing! Stop hoggin' the covers, yeah?"

"They got stuck under me, dammit! Gimme a sec... no, don't _pull_ \--"

It felt like a wrestling match as he tried to get to his opposite side without elbowing Chuck in the chin and Chuck tried to keep a grip on the covers so Raleigh didn't roll them all under him. It was the single most awkward and embarrassing moment of his life, and he wasn't sure he'd ever forget the feel of Chuck's nipple tightening under his palm as he'd accidentally groped trying to scoot and roll at the same time while his balls still ached from being knee-checked.

Finally, Chuck gave up subtlety and just shoved Raleigh where he wanted him to be, then hauled him back up against that broad furnace of a body, the radiating heat probably equal parts metabolism, irritation, and mortification at having to spoon his former nemesis.

It was certainly what fueled the blush Raleigh felt himself almost sweating from.

They settled nervously, neither daring to relax for long enough that it was somehow even more awkward. Unfortunately, the longer they lay all pokered up, the tighter Chuck's arms gripped until Raleigh was acutely uncomfortable.

"Chuck?"

"Oi, God, what now?"

"...I can't breathe. Can you loosen up?"

"Yeah, sorry. Just... didn't think it'd be this fucking awkward."

Thankfully, the iron bands around Raleigh's chest did indeed loosen, and he let his head fall back against Chuck's throat as he sucked in a decent breath. Unfortunately, Chuck damn near jerked away at the movement.

"Jesus! Did you wash your hair with ice?"

"Shit, sorry!" He jerked his head forward. "Forgot it was still wet."

"Yeah, well... it is. Fuck."

But the back-and-forth seemed to have loosened them both up a bit. Or they were just tired from a ridiculous day. Either way, he stopped feeling like a block of wood gripped by an iron vise and more like a mere human being force-cuddled by another human.

And then, his stomach growled.

Before Raleigh could even open his mouth, Chuck grunted. "I'm not movin', mate. It's finally a bit warm in here, and we're not fucking with it."

He grunted. "What if I have to piss?"

The massive chest at his back heaved on a sigh. "What are you, five years old? Fucking hold it."

Another grunt, and he settled again, ignoring his stomach. Unfortunately, it didn't want to be ignored and kept making increasingly insistent noises. A particularly noisy one made him actually cringe, and this time, it was Chuck's turn to grunt.

"Did you just fart?"

Oddly appalled by the suggestion, Raleigh scoffed. "No!"

"Sure, mate. If it stinks in ten seconds, I _will_ Dutch oven you."

He cringed again. "Jesus, Chuck. You'd have been a real hit at summer camp."

"Go. To. Sleep."

That... was probably not an option.

\--

"Ray."

Muzzy, Raleigh made a throaty nose and rolled over, burying his cold nose against a warm neck. Nice. Very nice. Even smelled good. Warm and... spicy? Musky, maybe?

"Dammit. _Ray!"_

His eyes opened, and he knew instantly who he'd been nuzzling. "Uh... sorry."

"Whatever, Cuddles." A snort. "Was gonna ask you to move because my arm's asleep, but then you got all squirmy."

"Okay, okay. I was asleep, dammit."

"You did warn me."

Despite himself, he grinned. Besides, it wasn't like Chuck hadn't immediately rewrapped his arms around him when he got settled.

"Yancy used to call me a narcoleptic octopus."

Chuck laughed, and Raleigh couldn't help but wrinkle his nose. They must have been asleep long enough for that ol' black magic to take place because....

"Chuck?"

"Yeah, mate?"

"Your breath is kinda awful."

That big body stiffened. "Shit, is it?"

He nodded, accidentally nuzzling again.

"Sorry. I... you want I should go brush my teeth?"

And let in all the cold when it was all good, muzzy warmth under the covers and with Chuck putting out heat like an electric blanket with arms?

"No. It's okay."

"Okay."

Muscle by muscle, the big body relaxed, and Raleigh let himself feel comforted by that. They were new at the whole friend thing, so the idea of Chuck -- Mr. Asshole himself -- feeling comfortable enough with him to snuggle him in a shitty bed in a rathole single room in a truly wretched little motel in Alaska was... nice. It felt like a big step up.

Then, out of nowhere, Chuck's right leg twitched hard enough to almost be a kick, and Raleigh squawked and damn near jumped out of the bed. Only Chuck's insistent grip kept him under the covers.

"What the fuck was that?"

Chuck cleared his throat, clearly feeling a bit awkward. "Yeah... sorry 'bout that. Eh... not showing you the scars, but there's some drivesuit trauma there from... yeah. Sometimes, it seizes up."

Oh. Well.

Sheepish, he settled back against his personal heater. "I get it. My arm does that sometimes. Sorry I freaked."

"No worries, mate."

The settled, and before Raleigh knew it, he was drifting away again. It was... nice.

\--

God, a cherishing hand on his dick was something he hadn't felt in years. The grip was perfect, the strokes long and sure. Almost felt like how he'd stroke himself, if it wouldn't be weird to do so while sleeping with--

_"Chuck--!"_

They jerked apart and stared at each other, wide-eyed in the semidark and waiting for... what? What could possibly happen next? A fistfight seemed most likely, because seriously, what the fuck?

"Jesus." Chuck dragged a hand over his face. Hopefully not the hand he'd been using to-- "Jesus, Raleigh, I'm so fucking sorry. I don't know what the fuck... I... Jesus, I--"

This was bad and only getting worse. Chuck was appalled right now, but the kid would likely turn it around to angry blustering any minute now. Raleigh had two choices: bring the anger first and get out in front of it or... calm the fuck down.

They were asleep. They were both used to sleeping alone. It was just a mistake. Could happen to anyone, right?

Swallowing hard, he got ahold of himself. "I... it's okay. I'm not... let's just forget it, okay? It was an accident."

How the hell did Chuck get his hand down Raleigh's pants, anyway? They'd been huddled up to each other against the cold. The logistics boggled the mind.

And if he thought about them too much....

"Fuck, I'm so sorry."

And Chuck _did_ look sorry. He also looked... well, almost in as bad a shape as Raleigh was. Huh. Raleigh had never cuddled up with a man besides Yancy before. Was two men popping boners while in bed together unusual? When both men were straight?

"Chuck, seriously. It's... it's fine, okay?" The best strategy when Chuck was on the fence was to crack a joke. "Honestly, you're the first person to touch me like that since before Knifehead, and it was actually going pretty well before I woke up and freaked out."

He blinked. That did not come out the way he meant it to. In fact, what the fuck was he even saying?

Chuck looked like he wanted to ask the same damn thing, and Raleigh couldn't blame him. He felt his eyes widening, and he began to seriously consider the feasibility of just sleeping in the bathtub. Or even out in the truck. Anywhere but here.

"I... fuck. Now _I'm_ the sorry one. Jesus, what are we even doing?"

For a long, tense moment, Chuck just stared from two feet of sheet space away. What little of his expression Raleigh could make out fluctuated several times before settling on... determined? Was... was that good or bad?

Then, the kid leaned across the sheet space and... and... _kissed_ him.

What the fuck?

Warm breath -- still not minty fresh -- fanned Raleigh's face. "No one ever finds out, yeah?"

That hot, strong hand slipped down inside his waistband again and gripped him, and his breath sighed out of him. He... he didn't protest. He didn't protest, and Chuck didn't stop, and when they kissed again, it was only slightly awkward. Weirdly enough, they seemed to be getting the hang of this... whatever it was.

It felt so damn good. He didn't expect that. He didn't expect... to want it. To want more of it. To not want to just lay back and let Chuck do what he wanted. Growling a bit into the kiss, he wrapped his arms around his personal space heater and slid his hands down under Chuck's waistband to grab two handfuls of firm, round ass. It felt amazing in his hands, and his hips bucked into Chuck's grip. They both groaned, and all remaining awkwardness disappeared.

Raleigh rolled to his back, pulling Chuck half over him until one thick thigh slid between Raleigh's own. He shoved Chuck's sweats down to bare that glorious ass, running his hands over it even as he arched against all that heated muscle.

"Chuck...."

Sighing into Raleigh's mouth, Chuck stroked with more abandon. "Fuck, Raleigh... what the fuck are we even doing?"

He groaned. "Don't care. Don't stop."

He couldn't bring himself to think of Chuck as a kid when he arched just right and felt exactly how much said kid was packing in his sweats. So, when he squirmed to shove those sweats down further still until he could get his hands on a cock that he could barely get his fingers around, he decided that "the kid" and "the brat" and maybe even "the jerk" were forever stricken from his mental vocabulary.

Okay, he might keep "the jerk". If nothing else, for amusement value later.

"Raleigh, Jesus, don't fucking stop doing that."

Since he had no intention of doing so, he leaned up and took that smart mouth with his own, the kiss almost vicious. Chuck rolled completely on top of him, slipping down between his legs, and thrust his hips against Raleigh's.

"Ah, fuck...."

He wasn't even sure who groaned it. It could've been either of them. He'd certainly been thinking it. Unfortunately, while the pressure felt good, it was a little too much friction. Desperate now that he'd fully thrown himself into whatever this was, Raleigh jerked his hand away from Chuck's throbbing cock, licked his palm with as much drool as he had, then reached down and took them both in hand until Chuck, too, shifted his grip to hold them both.

And that... _fuck_.

"Jesus, Raleigh... feels so fucking good... how did we not know... Jesus, coulda been doin' this from Day One...."

Thrusting and stroking and trading increasingly sloppy kisses, they gripped their cocks together and it was fucking crazy but it felt fucking amazing, and it had been so damn long that Raleigh came almost before he knew it was building. It jolted out of him, and he arched so hard his chin slammed into Chuck's lower lip hard enough to hurt them both. The slide of their dicks became instantly easier as his release poured out of him, and Chuck cried out and rutted that much harder against him, that thick cock hard and hot and too damn much while Raleigh was so oversensitized.

"Chuck... Chuck... please... God, I can't...."

"Raleigh, I...."

That big body clenched, and Chuck's low moan as his orgasm wrecked him left Raleigh feeling tingly and lightheaded, almost as if he'd come again himself. It was... fucking beautiful.

Even as it splattered all over his hand and his abs where his shirt had rucked up in all the squirming.

Chuck slumped, then laid down over him completely. Far from protesting, Raleigh lazily wrapped his arms up around that broad back, stroking up under the sweat-dampened t-shirt until he realized he was making the dampness worse because he probably should've wiped his hand off first.

He couldn't help it. He snickered.

Thankfully, it didn't ruin the moment. Chuck stiffened a bit, but if he felt anything like Raleigh did, he was too damn loose and relaxed to truly poker up.

"Something funny, Ray?"

He had no idea how to put it into words, so he just turned his head enough to brush his lips against Chuck's warm temple. Relaxing again, Chuck grunted but didn't bother making words.

Of course, Raleigh should've known it was too good to last.

"Ray?"

He sighed. "Yeah?"

Gathering his strength, Chuck pulled up to his elbows, then winced as his t-shirt stuck in the mess on Raleigh's stomach. "Fuck. Are... are we okay? With this? I don't even... I mean...."

_I didn't know this would happen. I didn't mean to. It just happened. I was sleeping, and it felt too good to stop when I woke up._

Yeah. Raleigh knew without Chuck having to say it because, hell. He was having the same thoughts. Again, he was pretty sure he had two options: freak out or calm down.

Again, he chose the latter. He felt too good for anything else.

"Chuck, stop. It's okay." But he had to be honest. "I don't now, okay? I don't know what we'll do tomorrow. I just...." He grinned a little, probably still high on his comedown. "It felt good, okay? Right now, tonight... that's all I care about."

Frowning, his eyebrows drawn together, Chuck slowly nodded.

"Well, that and getting a wet washcloth and another shirt."

The frown vanished, and Chuck snorted. "Gross."

He smirked. "Once again, you started it."

Those big, grey eyes widened. "You cheeky fuck!"

They shoved each other a bit while getting up to clean up their mess, but it was surprisingly light-hearted, considering the giant line they'd just gleefully jumped over. Maybe they'd be awkward and angry in the morning, but for right now, with satiation humming through their veins and clean t-shirts on, they settled back under the covers with complete ease, arms and legs finding comfortable places together.

Very nice, indeed.

And, later still, when Raleigh rolled to his back and stretched a bit and accidentally punched Chuck in the eye, Chuck didn't even wake up enough to complain.

Much.

**\--TWO MONTHS LATER--**

"Chuck... fuck, more... almost... Chuck... _Chuck!"_

They still hadn't told anyone, but only because they had no idea what to call each other outside the sack. Chuck had the irritating tendency to call Raleigh "princess" when he wanted angry sex, and if that terminology ever made it outside whatever bunk they crashed in, Raleigh would personally castrate his precious Australian shithead.

And Chuck had no intention of ever admitting out loud that he fucking _loved_ it when Raleigh shoved him down and had his way with him, which was why he called him "princess" when he needed it. Because he sure as hell couldn't actually ask for it.

But, with lube and research and no small amount of determination, they figured out what they needed from each other and had settled into something... nice. Unexpected, but nice.

And completely indefinable.

This had been one of those nights when Raleigh needed Chuck to take his mind off the nightmares he still couldn't shake. Their trip the Ice Box hadn't solved even a fraction of his problems. It had, however, given him a very satisfying distraction from them.

So, when Chuck shuddered his own climax and all but collapsed from a job fucking well done, Raleigh smiled sleepily and held him close. He loved the weight of the body he'd come to appreciate. He loved the warm scent of Chuck's neck. He loved strong arms around him, reminding him that other dimensions might exist, but he was here in the real world now, and that's all that mattered.

It was very different from sex with women, but he couldn't help but admit that he liked it. Loved it.

 _Fucking_ loved it.

He chuckled.

Grunting, Chuck nuzzled at his neck. "Again with the laughing. You're seriously giving me a complex, mate."

Of course, that made him laugh harder. "It's not you. I just... I'm laughing at me, okay?"

"Hn."

He rolled his eyes. "I was just... remember when I used to think I was straight?"

Chuck coughed out a laugh that moved his whole body and brought a groan and an arch from Raleigh. The big bastard hadn't pulled out, and the laugh did... _things_. Sweet Jesus, did it do things.

And seeing how even such an accidental move affected him, Chuck went from laughing to heated in the blink of an eye. "I think that was back when we used to think we were just friends, mate."

His hips rolled. Raleigh sucked in a shivery breath.

"Yeah." His voice had no strength behind it. Not with that look in Chuck's eyes. "I think it was way back then."

A kiss. A stroke.

And it started all over again.

**THE END**


End file.
